This week only one Chinese-language movie will be released in Taiwan and it is a must see. It is the Best Picture Award winner of the 2004 Golden Horse Awards (
Kekexili is the third-least-inhabited area in the world and is at the northwest corner of the Tibetan plateau. This movie explores the complicated nature of human existence in this bleak, extreme environment where poverty and the natural elements make life almost unbearably difficult.
Kekexili is Lu Chuan's (
PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA ASIA
The film is shot with an almost documentary-like approach to tell about a Tibetan volunteer patrol chasing a ring of poachers who trade in antelope wool. The film is based on a true story witnessed by a journalist from Beijing.
Ritai (Dou Bujie) is the leader of the patrol squad and guides his team in pursuit of the poachers. He is determined to cross the snowy mountains and catch the gang leader.
Cinematographer Cao Yu (曹郁) presents stunning pictures of the scenery on the roads, giving nature a vital role in the plot. Its severity troubles both the patrol and the poachers, and blurs the distinction between good and evil.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF COLUMBIA ASIA
Besides the excellent collaboration between director Lu and Cao, the lead actor Dou Bujie gives an impressive portrayal of the patrol leader, while most of the non-professional actors add a sense of honesty and sincerity to the film.
Coming soon
Hoping to ride the tsunami-sized wave of media hype after his triumph at the Berlin International Film Festival, Tsai Ming-liang's (
PHOTO COURTESY OF HOMEGREEN FILMS
The film marks Tsai's first attempt to cross over from art-house cinema to the mainstream, though its abundant and explicit sexual content might keep it from that categorization.
The controversial film will play in more than 40 theaters nationwide starting next week.
Local distributor Long Hsiang Films (龍祥電影) announced last week that it acquired the rights to action film Seoul Raiders (韓城攻略), starring Tony Leung (梁朝偉), and the rights to Jay Chou's (周杰倫) debut film, Initial D (頭文字D). Seoul Raider will be released next week and Initial D will be released in Taiwan in July.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
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